Dear fellow swimmers
Is ice swimming for you?
Cold water swimming can be sociable, fun, and even addictive, but it's something you do in a dangerous environment. Risks
include:
- Cold water shock
- Swim failure
- Hypothermia
- Non-freezing cold injury
- Afterdrop
Our advice? Enjoy the experience but keep your swims short and leave a big safety margin. Get out long before you feel you need to. Unexpected delays happen.
For
example, last week, my partner got tangled in discarded fishing line mid-swim. As she struggled to free herself, the line tightened around her wrists. She stayed calm and escaped, but she was in the water far longer than planned. If she’d been near her time limit, this could have turned serious.
Seeking extremes
Despite the risks, interest in ice swimming (usually defined as water below 5°C) is growing. Many swimmers love to push boundaries, and that’s fine, if you do it safely and with knowledge.
That’s why we asked ice swimming expert Stephen Gould to write about it in the
November issue of Outdoor Swimmer.
Additionally, on
4 December, Stephen will join us for our next Virtual Event: Ice Swimming—Insight, Inspiration and Guidance.
✅ Free for magazine subscribers (look out for a separate email with your special link)
✅ £15 for non-subscribers
If you're curious about ice swimming, join us on Zoom.
What to wear
Still on the topic of winter swimming, we've got two articles on what to wear to warm up quickly after your next swim to share with you this
week.
Pre-Order our December issue for free postage
If you don't yet
subscribe to Outdoor Swimmer magazine and want to see what you're missing, pre-order our December issue before Monday 17 November and get free postage.
